This refreshing and healthy salad serves as a wonderful accompaniment to any meal. Or can be simply eaten as a meal at lunch or dinner. Crisp, green and red gem lettuce or baby romaine, as I like to call it, along with a handful of baby spinach serve as a base. Throw in some roasted beets and marinated artichokes for a hearty and delicious taste, and sliced shallots and walnuts for some crunchy goodness.
I came up with a zesty, sweet and spicy vinaigrette for this salad. Thanks to a batch of fresh apple and orange juice I had made earlier on during the week. The freshly squeezed juice, with its tangy and sweet taste, coupled with spicy Dijon mustard, white wine vinegar and extra virgin olive oil, resulted in a flavourful vinaigrette, perfectly suited for my salad. Ladies and gentleman, I present to you my crisp and clean, delightful and green, yup, salad!
Servings 4
Ingredients for the salad :
Gem lettuce or small romaine, torn into roughly 2 inch pieces – 6 cups. Feel free to substitute with romaine or butter lettuce, if you can’t get a hold of these little babies
Baby spinach leaves – 2 cups
Marinated artichokes, from a store bought jar – 11/2 cups
2 Golden beetroots
1 shallot, thinly sliced
A handful of walnuts, roughly broken into small pieces
For the citrus-apple vinaigrette :
Freshly squeezed orange and apple juice – 1/4 cup
Extra virgin olive oil – 4. Tbsp.
Dijon mustard – 1 tbsp.
White wine vinegar – 1 tbsp.
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste.
The first step is to roast the golden beets. Preheat the oven at 400 F. Trim the edges of the beets. Rub a little olive oil over them and wrap them loosely in a piece of aluminium foil. Roast for about 35-40 minutes, till the beets are tender, but still have a bite to them. Let cool. Peel skins and dice into an inch size pieces. 
The walnuts can also be toasted, just pop them in the hot oven for a couple of minutes. Keep a watch, do not forget about them, no burnt walnuts please!😉
Whisk together all ingredients for the vinaigrette and set aside.
In a large salad bowl, toss in the greens, namely the lettuce and spinach leaves. Add the diced beets, marinated artichokes and sliced shallots. Before serving, add the vinaigrette and toss well
. Lastly, add the crunchy and toasted walnuts. The salad is now ready to be devoured!😀
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